There are various modes of communication used today, including telephonic communication, facsimile communication, and electronic communication, as examples. In recent years, electronic communication has become a preferred medium of communication for many businesses and individuals. Electronic communication includes electronic mail, also known as email or e-mail, and instant messaging, as examples. The preference for electronic communication stems from the many advantages that are provided by this mode of communication. People have always wanted to correspond with one another in the fastest way possible. Electronic mail is advantageous over regular mail in this respect as it provides a near instantaneous form of communication. Prior to e-mail, first telegraph, and then later facsimile, provided similar instantaneous forms of communication, but in both instances, the steps leading to sending and then ultimately steps involved in receiving this instant communication were burdensome. By contrast, once means of communication is established, electronic mail or other electronic communications do not provide any additional burdens either for the sender sending the communication or the receiver receiving the communication.
In many instances, electronic communication is taking the place of the telephone or is even preferred to it. While affording the same ease and instantaneous means of communication as a telephone, electronic communication is preferred in instances where there is an advantage to recording the communication. For example, documentation of communications may be required or at least preferred in instances where such documentation provides legal protection to one or both parties. But, even in situations where such documentation is not necessary, written documentation affords better information retention. For example, it may be easier to organize and retain information about a client's new address and phone number when such information is provided by stored electronic means that can be easily retrieved, as opposed to other means that can be more easily misplaced.
The popularity of electronic communication has led both individuals and businesses to rely heavily on this form of communication. Electronic communication allows people to write back and forth without having to spend much time worrying about how the message actually gets delivered. As technology grows closer and closer to being a common part of daily life, the reliance of both individuals and businesses on this medium of communication is sharply increasing.
Electronic communications rely on addresses to send/receive messages. For instance, an e-mail address provides the information required to get a message to a user or businesses anywhere around the world. Other forms of electronic communications, as well as other forms of communication, also rely on addresses or other forms of identity.
Unfortunately, there are instances where the message contained in a communication is not delivered to the intended recipient because the identity (e.g., address) is incorrect. When an identity is incorrect, the intended recipient of the communication does not receive the communication. This is troublesome for the original sender of the communication, as well as to others that may be relying on that communication, such as those carbon copied in the cc:, blind carbon copied in the bcc:, or other recipients in the to: header.
Often, the sender of the message is notified of the failure to deliver by a delivery error message. However, this message is only sent to the actual originator of the communication. Therefore, none of the successfully addressed recipients of the communication are notified of the occurrence of an error until attempting to initiate subsequent responses to the original message that often use the same distribution lists of recipients having the same embedded incorrect information. As more and more users get involved and more responses are generated, the error further compounds as it is duplicated each time, leading to the cascading of incorrect e-mail addresses and information that were originated at an earlier stage from a single source.
The error and associated lost productivity become a permanent attribute in any later communication that uses the erroneous e-mail address or identity.